In Love with the Boy
by ThisIsTrueImmortality
Summary: Lucerne Mellark and her boyfriend Daniel are caught sneaking home late one night by her irate father. It might take several memories and a heavy question to convince Peeta not to trounce the boy. A Hunger Games Next Generation oneshot.


**Author's Note: Hello! Well, I think this little oneshot here means that I have now written a story for at least three of the major fandoms circulating around Geekland. That's something for a geek to be proud of. :)**

** About this story: It's really just a little semi-humorous oneshot that came to me while listening to the song, "She's In Love with the Boy" by Trisha Yearwood (yes, a country song). I've had Hunger Games on my mind a lot because I just read it last week. I was very intrigued by the idea of *SPOILER* Peeta and Katniss's kids, so I thought that I would try to write from the POV of Lucerne Mellark, their oldest child. I had to make up her first name myself-it's a flower, by the way. This is my first attempt at writing in the fandom. I hope you like it!**

**Link to the song: ** .com/watch?v=QSPogYPPUd0

**Enjoy!**

In Love with the Boy: A Hunger Games Fanfic

I laugh just a little as Daniel playfully nudges my cheek with his nose as we walk through my backyard, and then slap a hand to my mouth. It's too late, though; I see the light snap on in the kitchen as someone inside our house awakens. "Oh, no," I breathe, glancing apprehensively at my boyfriend, who looks back uneasily. We quickly disengage our hands from one another.

"Lucerne!" It's my father, I realize with dread. I nearly groan aloud, but instead I drop to the ground, pulling Danny with me. We lie in the tall grass for a moment, breathing as softly as possible. I don't know what I think I'm going to accomplish by hiding. My dad, a meticulous painter, could spot me in my dark clothes against the pale grass from a mile away.

"Lucerne Rue Mellark, if you don't come to this porch in ten seconds, that boy is a dead man!"

I feel Daniel wince a hair beside me. I give his hand a reassuring squeeze, but I don't blame him for the reaction. There's a good reason why my father scares half the eligible boys in town: sometimes he acts a little crazy underneath his gentle exterior. I still remember the one time he screamed at my mother so loudly that Uncle Haymitch heard it from his house and came running, armed with a knife and an empty whiskey bottle. Yeah, Uncle Haymitch is crazy, too.

But I also know that my father wouldn't hurt me or anyone I love for the world. He's all bark...mostly. My dad felt so guilty about that episode of screaming, he offered to go stay at Haymitch's for a week. My mother refused the offer and called him an idiot. She does that when he scares her, which isn't very often.

"Come on," Daniel whispers, "we'd better go."

I nod, gripping his hand, and pull myself up off the ground. We walk slowly toward the house. Daniel swallows as he sees my father silhouetted against the light flowing from the open doorway. I roll my eyes as I see the grim set to my dad's face, the one he reserves for unpleasant business. Inside, I'm trembling at what he might do to Daniel.

"Hey, Daddy," I say, but my voice is so faint I wonder if he can hear me.

A second later, I know he heard me loud and clear. "Two o'clock," my dad says, his eyes quite blank, unreadable, as he stares at me. "It is two o'clock in the morning, Lucerne. I think I said you had to be home by nine."

"Uh-" I can't get anything else out; my throat is clogged.

"We-we had..."

The words die out as Daddy gives Daniel a dark look, then turns to me. "Do you have any idea how worried your mother has been? I had to convince her three times not to go out and look for you. She called Haymitch five times to make sure he hadn't seen you."

The hot feeling of shame sweeps through my stomach as I picture my mother's frantic face. "Daddy, I..."

"And you didn't even leave us a note telling us where you would go tonight. I thought we taught you to be more considerate to other people than that, Lucerne."

"I'm..." I'm about to say 'I'm sorry', but I think that maybe that's a lie. I don't at all regret spending an entire night lying next to Daniel on a riverbank, staring up at the stars. I don't think it was wrong to lean over and kiss him a couple times as we were stretched out on the sand, or to accept the ring he'd made for me. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you," I amend. There. No lies and no defiance.

"You don't have to apologize to me," my dad says, although by his tone I think I do. "When you get up tomorrow, I expect a full apology to your mother."

"Yes, sir." That's the least I can do, and if that's the extent of my punishment, I'm a lucky girl. "I really didn't want to scare Mama, Daddy."

My dad nods once, his concession. "I know, honey. We'll talk more about it in the morning. Now, get in side. You and I-" he levels his blue-eyed gaze at my boyrfriend, "are going to have a talk, Daniel."

Oh, no. I try pleading first. "Daddy, please don't be-"

"Lucerne, Daniel kept you out five hours past your curfew. Unless you want me to ground you for three weeks, you might want to go inside."

"Daddy, listen," I say, grabbing his hand, "Daniel and me were just sitting on the riverbank." I panic a bit at his unresponsiveness. "That was it. We didn't go anywhere else, I swear! And we weren't doing anything! We were just sitting!" I see this hasn't had any effect on the glint in my dad's eye.

"That's nice," my dad says calmly. "Go inside. I'm not going to ask you again." When I don't move, he looks back at me. "Inside, Lucerne." As he steps outside, I move into the doorway, obeying out of instinct. Still icy calm, my father shuts it behind me.

Completely losing my head, I rush through the kitchen and into my parents bedroom. "Mama!" I burst out, flicking the light switch by the bed. "Mama!"

"Lucy?" My mother is propped up in the chair in the corner in her robe, her hair wet. I see her expression shift from the bleariness of sleep to the keen-eyed anger so familiar to her face. "Where have you been? Do you have _any_ idea-can you _imagine_ how-what _were_ you doing-"

"Mama, help me, Daddy's going to kill Daniel, I just know he is, you have to stop him, please!" It all comes out garbled because I'm nearly hysterical now from imagining all the things my veteran father could do to my boyfriend.

"What?" My mother asks, bewildered by the tears spurting out of my eyes. "Lucy-"

"Daddy's out there beating up Daniel!"

"Your father-and Daniel..." My mother seems to grasp how grave the situation is. She springs into action in her typical way, rising from the chair and taking my hand firmly in hers as she strides out of the room. "Don't worry, baby, you know your father wouldn't hurt him."

I don't point out that, if that's true, why is she marching over to interrupt the brutal murder about to take place? I just cling to her hand and try to pull it together. I know I'm overreacting, but...I feel like my dad's been waiting to get Danny alone for a couple months, now. That thought is a scary one.

"Peeta," my mother calls authoritatively as we reach the back door. She grabs the door handle and pulls it open. I hide behind her, picturing my boyfriend lying unconscious on the porch in a pool of blood.

"Katniss?" Daddy looks up from where he has been leaning against the house. I peer around my mother, searching for Daniel, and find him sitting on the porch railing, his hands folded and his posture meek. I breathe a sigh of relief; we made it in time. "What is it?" my dad asks.

The corner of my mother's mouth twitches. "You might want to tell your daughter you're not going to murder her boyfriend."

My father looks at her, bewildered. "What?"

"Lucerne just ran into our room convinced you were going to kill Daniel and defile his remains."

My father examines my face, which still has tear tracks on its surface, and his expression softens. "What a silly girl," he says, and holds one arm out to me.

I scoot past my mother and give him a hug, but I'm not satisfied completely. "Promise me you won't hurt Daniel?"

My dad laughs slightly. "Lucerne, I just wanted to talk with Daniel alone. You know, a man-to-man sort of thing."

This doesn't abate my fear. "Daddy, promise me."

"Well, I'd never say never-"

"Peeta!" my mother says sharply. She's in no mood for teasing, either.

"Oh, all right. You ruin the suspense of the thing." Brushing a tear off my cheek, my dad gives me a squeeze. "I promise I won't hurt Daniel."

"Thank you," I say, relieved.

"However, I can't say I'm exactly pleased with who you've chosen as a boyfriend, Lucerne."

I can just picture Daniel's blush as he bows his head. "What's wrong with him?" I ask defensively.

"Well, for starters, he's about as punctual as Haymitch for a dental appointment."

"We've only stayed out this one time, Daddy!"

"And the week before that, and last Saturday."

"Oh, Peeta," my mother says, "you're actually keeping a log?"

"It's happened enough times that it makes me think Daniel isn't responsible enough for you," my dad continues, unabashed.

"Daniel looks out for me! He won't let any of the kids at school bother me. And don't you remember that one time he carried me all the way home when I twisted my ankle?"

"Chivalry has its place, Lucerne, but that isn't everything. Daniel doesn't have a job-"

"He wants to go to architect school!"

"He doesn't have money-"

"But _we_ have plenty of _that_, Daddy!"

As my dad shakes his head, my mother breaks into the conversation. "I remember another boy, not so long ago, who was only a baker's son without much prospect himself. Do you remember that boy, Peeta?"

I can see the faraway look in my dad's eyes, one I've seen many times in my childhood. Mama's never told me what happened to Daddy; why he has his fits and sometimes seems like he can't remember the simplest parts of his life. I can tell he remembers what Mama's referring to now. "I don't think we can compare that situation to this one, Katniss," he says firmly.

"I took a chance on you, too, Peeta," my mom says. "I don't think my mother was too happy about it to begin with, but I did it anyway."

"Well, you didn't have much of a choice." I don't know what the significant look that passes between my parents means, but it's not unusual in our house.

"Peeta, she's in love with the boy!" my mother says in exasperation. "Lucerne is just as mad about Daniel as you were about me. And Daniel feels the same way. Don't you, Daniel?" And she gives him her fierce look.

If the boys in town are afraid of my dad, it's nothing to how they feel about my mom. "Oh, I do," Daniel says hastily, rising from the railing. "Mr. and Mrs. Mellark, I-" he takes a minute to compose himself, "I-really love Lucy, and I'd-I'd never do anything to hurt her." I smile at him in encouragement, and he smiles back.

"Daniel and I will always love each other, Daddy," I say, "just like you and Mama."

My dad studies the both of us as we stand next to him, his blue gaze deep. "I have one last question for you, Daniel Cartwright, and I want you to think it through." Daniel nods, readying himself. "Would you die for my daughter?"

From the way my boyfriend thinks through the question, I can tell that he isn't just going to spit out the obvious answer. If it was me, it would have only taken a second; I already know how I feel. But as Daniel looks up at my father, I can tell he knows something about Daddy that I don't. I've never seen that expression on his face before. "Sir, I would do _anything_ for her."

There's a moment of thick silence as man and boy measure each other again. Then my dad turns to me. "It's time you went up to bed, Lucy. You can see Daniel tomorrow."

I can't halt the smile from breaking out on my face, and I see Daniel breathe out a loud sigh. I kiss Daddy on the cheek and do the same for Daniel. "Thank you! I love you!" I call to the air in general, and then I head back inside, my heart warm inside me. Daddy approves of me and Daniel. I can go to sleep now in peace.

As I make my way to the stairs, I see my parents embrace out of the corner of my eye. My dad whispers something to my mother, who tucks her head under his chin. I'm visited by an image of what they must have looked like when they were seventeen, the same age as me and Daniel. How in love they must have been.

Turning back to the stairs, I smile. I can only hope that Daniel and I can be just like them.


End file.
